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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. current — of water
  7. wake — a trail
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. saw — the tool
  13. current — electric
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fall — the season
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. shower — rain
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. current — happening now

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com